fancy penmanship, highly decorative handwriting as with a great many flourishes. A script usually cursive although sometimes angular produced chiefly by brush, esp. Chinese, Japanese or Arabic writing of high aesthetic value.

Kowtow

to act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference. To touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as an act of worship, reverence, apology especially in former Chinese custom.

Decorum

dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress. The quality or state of being decorous; orderliness; regularity. Good taste in conduct or appearance.

Align

to arrange in a straight line; adjust according to a line. To bring into a line or alignment. To bring into cooperation or agreement with a particular group, party or cause.

Turmoil

a state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance; agitation, disquiet.

Palanquin

a passenger conveyance, usually for one person, consisting of a covered boxlike litter carried by means of poles resting on the shoulders of several men.

Sentiment

an attitude toward something; regard; opinion. A mental feeling; emotion. Refined or tender emotion. A thought influenced by or proceeding from fleeing or emotion.

Preordained

to ordain beforehand. To decree or ordain in advance.

Phoenix

a mythical bird of great beauty fabled to live 500 or 600 years in the Arabian wilderness, to burn itself on a funeral pyre, and to rise from its ashes in the freshness of youth and live another cycle of years: often an emblem of immortality or of reborn idealism or hope.

Entrance

an act or entering, as into a place or upon new duties. The right, privilege, or permission to enter. The immersed portion of a hull forward of the middle body.

Logistics

the planning, implementation, and coordination of the details of a business or other operation. The handling of the details of an operation.

Concubine

a woman who cohabits with a man to who she is not legally married. A Secondary wife, usually of inferior rank. A woman residing in a harem and kept for sexual purposes

Tassel

A pendent ornament consisting commonly of a bunch of threads, small cord or other strands hanging from a roundish knob or head, used on clothing, in jewelry or on curtains.

Frantic

desperate or wild with excitement, passion, fear, or pain. Emotionally out of control. Marked by fast and nervous, disordered, or anxiety-driven activity

Impudent

of, pertaining to or characterized by impertinence or effrontery. Lacking modesty. Not showing due respect for another person.

moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation especially over some trifling annoyance. Rude in speech or behavior.

Tactics

the art or science of disposing military or naval forces for battle and maneuvering them in battle. The patterns in which the elements of a given level or stratum in a language may combine to form larger constructions.

Emissaries

a representative sent on a mission or errand; an agent sent on a mission of a secret nature as a spy.

Coax

to attempt to influence by gentle persuasion, or flattery. To manipulate to a desired end by adroit handling or persistent effort.

Typhoid

An infectious, often fatal, febrile disease, usually of the summer months, characterized by intestinal inflammation and ulceration, caused by the typhoid bacillus, which is usually introduced with food or drink.

Antiquity

the quality of being ancient; the period of history before the Middle Ages. Something belonging to or remaining from ancient times, as monuments, relics, or customs.

Siege

the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies. Any prolonged or persistent effort to overcome resistance. A series of illnesses, troubles, or annoyances besetting a person or group.

to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo. To bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate.

Falter

to hesitate or waver in action, purpose, intent. To speak hesitatingly or brokenly. To move unsteadily; stumble.

Chrysanthemum

any of several composite plants. Any cultivated variety of the plant native to China and other species of it. Notable for the diversity of color and size of their autumnal flowers. The flower of any such plant.